Dyeing textile articles

ABSTRACT

Method and apparatus for dyeing textile articles in which the articles are confined in bulk but in orderly fashion in a dyebath up to a level therein, the dyebath is loaded with dye liquor to cover the articles and the liquor is circulated through forceful sprays directed towards the articles from above said level.

This invention relates to dyeing textile articles and in particular,though not necessarily exclusively, to the dyeing of hosiery such asladies' stockings and tights.

There are many ways of dyeing textile articles and many different typesof dyeing machinery. The problem is always to find an economical methodwhich can be carried out on machinery of low capital cost andmaintenance requirements which is, however, effective to produce uniformdyeing both from article to article and as between different parts ofthe same article.

The invention provides a method which is particularly satisfactory, atleast for the dyeing of ladies hosiery, in all of these regards andmachinery for carrying out the method.

The invention comprises a method for dyeing textile articles comprisingconfining said articles in bulk but in orderly fashion in a dyebath upto a level therein, loading the dyebath with dye liquor to cover thearticles and circulating said liquor through forceful sprays directedtowards the articles from above said level.

Pretreatment of the articles, including scouring and the application ofdyeing assistants such as levellers and retarders, may be carried out inthe dyebath with liquid circulated through said sprays.

The articles may be packed in readily penetrable bags and a plurality ofsuch bags packed in the dye bath. Hosiery articles such as stockings andtights may advantageously be packed flat in the bags rather than justbeing bundled in; the orderly packing avoids tight tangles resistive todye liquor penetration, and facilitates unpacking.

The invention also comprises apparatus for dyeing textile articlescomprising a dyebath loadable up to a level with articles to be dyed andcirculating means for circulating dye liquor through the dyebathincluding forceful sprays located above said level and directeddownwardly at articles confined in the dyebath.

The dyebath may comprise an open topped container and a removableinsert, the insert comprising a carrier for carrying the articles to bedyed in bulk but in orderly fashion and having a column from whichextends, above said level, an array of perforated tubes constitutingsaid sprays and connected via said column to forced circulation meansfor the container.

The container may have a removable lid to prevent spashing out of liquorduring the dyeing process, and the lid may be carried on the removablecarrier.

The container may be rectangular in plan, the column extending along thecontainer, desirably in a central position so that the array of spraysextends either side of the column.

The carrier may comprise a framework adapted to confine a charge ofarticles to be dyed so that the articles can be loaded into theframework with the carrier removed from the container and the loadedcarrier then lowered into the open topped container. The provision of asecond carrier allows one to be in use for dyeing while the second isbeing charged for instant loading into the container as soon as thedyeing operation on the first is completed.

Embodiments of apparatus and methods for dyeing textile articles willnow be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a cross-section of one embodiment of apparatus; and FIG. 2 isa plan view of the apparatus of FIG. 1.

The apparatus illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2 comprises a dyebath 11loadable up to a level 12 with articles 13 to be dyed, and circulatingmeans for circulating dye liquor 14 through the dyebath 11 includingforceful sprays 15 located above said level 12 and directed downwardlyat articles 13 confined in the dyebath 11.

The dyebath 11 comprises an open topped container 16 and a removableinsert 17, the insert comprising a carrier for carrying the articles 13in bulk but in orderly fashion, and having a column 18 from whichextends, above said level 12, an array of perforated tubes constitutingsaid sprays 15 and connected via said column 18 to forced circulationmeans 19 for the container. The circulation means 19 comprise a powerfulpump 19a delivering to an inlet 19b to the container 16 beneath thecolumn 18 and receiving liquor 14 from the container 16 from a bottomoutlet 19c thereof. There may be several inlets 19b and outlets 19cspaced apart in the container 16 to ensure even circulation throughoutthe dyebath 11.

The container 16 is rectangular in plan and the column 18 extends midwaythereof from end to end.

The carrier 17 is adapted to confine a charge of articles 13 to be dyedso that the articles can be loaded into the framework on the base 17athereof with the carrier 17 removed from the container 16. The articlesare constrained in the carrier by a framework of rods 21 stretchingalong the length of the carrier, parallel to the column 18. The carrier17 has a hoisting ring 22 the hoist attachment also carrying a lid 23 tocover the arrangement and prevent splashing out during operation.

In use, a second carrier 17 can be loaded with the next charge ofarticles 13 to be dyed while a first carrier is in the dyebath.

The loaded carrier 17 may be put into the empty container 16 at thestart of the dyeing process and a scouring operation performed byintroducing a scouring liquid into the dyebath 11 and circulating theliquid so that it is sprayed on to the articles 13. The scouring liquidis allowed to build up until the articles are covered and scouringcontinued for as long as deemed necessary. The scouring liquid can thenbe drained off through a valved drain 24 and any other desiredpretreatment applied to the articles 13 by introducing liquid containingchemicals as may be desired as for the scouring liquid. This liquid isthen drained off when appropriate and the dye liquor admitted in thesame say.

The pump power and the spray arrangement are such as will effect rapidpenetration of dye liquor as a result of the kinetic energy of the dyeliquor emerging from the sprays 15 right down to the lowermost articlesin the charge, and so that liquor will still circulate through theselowermost articles at least partly as a result of its initial kineticenergy from the spray.

The articles 13 are packed in batches in loosely knitted bags. If thearticles are ladies' hosiery, they can be arranged flat and generallyaligned in the bags which are tied so as to hold their contents firmlybut not tightly, so that liquor can readily penetrate but that evenunder the force of the jets, the contents are held against substantialmovements, so that when the process is over they can be readily unpackedwithout the need for unravelling.

A dyebath as illustrated may have a volume of several cubic meters andhold a charge of many thousand hosiery articles. It is found that usingthe forced spray circulation all the articles in a charge are dyeduniformly and without tangling.

Other embodiments of apparatus may of course be contemplated--theapparatus may for example be circular in plan with an axial column andjets and framework members radiating therefrom.

It may be the case that the effectiveness of the method and theapparatus as described is due at least in part to the turbulence createdat all levels by the effect of the jets. It is not necessary to have thejets above the level of liquid in the dyebath, but this does permit ofvisual inspection to check that the jets are all functioning properly.

I claim:
 1. A method for dyeing textile articles comprising the steps ofconfining said articles in bulk but in orderly fashion from a bottomlevel to an upper level in a dyebath; loading the dyebath with dyeliquor to cover the articles; and circulating said liquor through thedyebath by steps including directing forceful sprays of liquor towardsthe articles to energize the liquor with sufficient kinetic energy topenetrate articles at the bottom level of the dyebath with the energizedliquor.
 2. A method according to claim 1, further comprising the step ofpre-treating the articles in the dyebath by steps including circulatingtreatment liquid through said sprays prior to loading the dyebath withdye liquor.
 3. A method according to claim 2, wherein the step ofpre-treating the articles includes scouring the articles with thetreatment liquid.
 4. A method according to claim 2, wherein the step ofpre-treating the articles includes applying a dyeing assistant to thearticles with the treatment liquid.
 5. A method according to claim 4,wherein the dyeing assistant is a leveller.
 6. A method according toclaim 4, wherein the dyeing assistant is a retarder.
 7. A methodaccording to claim 1 or claim 2, further comprising the steps of packingarticles in a plurality of bags which are readily penetrable by saidliquor, and packing a plurality of the bags in the dyebath.
 8. A methodaccording to claim 7, in which the articles are hosiery articles andfurther comprising the step of packing the hosiery articles flat in thebags.
 9. A method according to claim 8, wherein the hosiery articles arestockings.
 10. A method according to claim 8, wherein the hosieryarticles are tights.
 11. A method according to claim 1, wherein theforceful sprays of liquor are directed towards the articles from abovesaid upper level.
 12. A method according to claim 1, wherein the step ofconfining the articles in the dyebath further comprises:loading thearticles on a framework of a carrier when the carrier is removed fromthe dyebath; and lowering the carrier into the dyebath after theframework is loaded with articles.
 13. A method according to claim 12,further comprising the steps of providing a second carrier in additionto the carrier first aforesaid, loading additional articles on aframework of the second carrier when the second carrier is removed fromthe dyebath and the first carrier is in the dyebath, removing the firstcarrier from the dyebath at the conclusion of dyeing the articles on thefirst carrier, and immediately after removing the first carrier loweringthe second carrier into the dyebath after its framework has been loadedwith articles.
 14. Apparatus for dyeing textile articles comprising adyebath loadable between a bottom level and an upper level with articlesto be dyed; and circulating means for circulating dye liquor through thedyebath, said circulating means including:a pump; and sprays located inthe dyebath and connected to the pump to forcefully direct dye liquor atarticles confined in the dyebath, said sprays energizing the dye liquorwith sufficient kinetic energy to penetrate articles at the bottom levelof the dyebath.
 15. Apparatus according to claim 14, wherein the dyebathincludes an open topped container to hold the dye liquor, and furthercomprising:an insert adapted to be removed from the open toppedcontainer, the insert comprising a carrier for carrying the articles tobe dyed in bulk but orderly fashion, said carrier having a column fromwhich there extends an array of said sprays, said column connected influid communication to the pump to supply dye liquor to said array ofsprays.
 16. Apparatus according to claim 15, comprising a removable lidfor the container.
 17. Apparatus according to claim 16, in which the lidis carried on the removable insert.
 18. Apparatus according to any oneof claims 16 or 17 in which the container is rectangular in plan. 19.Apparatus according to claim 15, in which the column extends along thecontainer.
 20. Apparatus according to claim 19, in which the columnextends along the container in a central position so that the array ofsprays extends either side of the column.
 21. Apparatus according toclaim 15, wherein said array of sprays comprise an array of perforatedtubes extending from said column.
 22. Apparatus according to claim 15,wherein the container is rectangular in plan.
 23. Apparatus according toany one of claims 15, 16, 17, 19, 20 or 22, in which the carriercomprises a framework adapted to confine a charge of articles to be dyedand to allow the articles to be loaded into the framework with thecarrier removed from the container and to allow the loaded carrier to belowered into the opened topped container.
 24. Apparatus according toclaim 23, comprising a second carrier which can be charged whilst thefirst is in use for dyeing.
 25. Apparatus according to claim 14, whereinthe sprays in the dyebath are positioned above said upper level toforcefully direct the dye liquor downwardly at the articles confined inthe dyebath.